MANILA, Philippines – In the pilot execution of the face-to-face classes in some of the Schools in Metro Manila on Monday, December 6, 2021, the Philippine National Police has directed police personnel to avoid entering the campuses.
“The resumption of the face-to-face learning setup is not new anymore for us since other schools have already started this last November.”
“We just have to follow the template and remind our police personnel to strictly limit themselves from going inside school premises unless there is a request for security assistance,” the PNP chief said.
Police General Dionardo Carlos said that “the deployment of the police personnel will be expected.” The PNP is “all systems go” to “provide security” at these schools.
The incident where police officers were wielding long firearms standing guard inside a classroom where children were attending classes went viral and drew criticism to the PNP.
This incident provoked the Department of Education (DepEd) to issue a statement to remind school heads that “school, as a general rule, should be free from the presence of the armed combatants, whether they are from government forces or armed groups.”
The cops who went viral were deployed to Longos Central Elementary School in Barangay Pangabisan, Alaminos City on Monday said Police Maj. Reinwexk Alamay, officer-in-charge of Alaminos Police Station.
“Upon the request of school officials [to] ensure observance of minimum public health standards, the police units only had pure good intention in acting on the request of school officials,” said Police Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Peralta, PNP Regional Director of Police Regional Office-1.
“Just unfortunate that some persons may have felt intimidated by the presence of security personnel,” Peralta added.